In describing his departure from Sakata Basho uses the term nagori which is a reference to the foam a wave leaves behind on the shore. Basho sees himself as a wave who has washed up at Sakata, lingered, and then withdrawn, and yet he has left something of himself behind showing that it was hard to part from his friends there. One explanation says that this shows his regret that he did not make it all the way north to Aomori and Ezo, like a wave, he only came this far, then receeded. As the foam marks the farthest progress of the waves, Sakata marks the farthest point on Basho's outward trip and now he is turning back. He speaks of the days piling up which were the days they spent in Sakata. According to Sora, they left Kisagata on 6.18, arriving at Sakata that night. They remained there for another week until the 25th.

When Basho speaks of seeing the clouds of the Hokuriku highway, the image of the distant clouds reflects the distance of the road ahead of him. This notion of following the drifting cloud is the same one he expressed at the beginning of his essay when he left Edo.

The Nezu no seki barrier was established in 653 as a barrier against the Emishi and marked the border between Uzen (Yamagata) and Echigo (Niigata). Sugagomosho says the name derives from the fact that there are some large stones along the coast here that resemble mice eating mochi. This barrier was fortified, and along with Shirakawa and Nagoso, it was one of the three great barriers of the north country. Basho passed here on 6.27 (8.12).

When Basho says Ayumi aratamete he means the nature of his travelling has changed; the direction of his travel has changed, the nature of the country has changed, the season has changed, and perhaps his attitude has changed as well. Basho is speaking vaguely when he says the journey to Ichiburi will take nine days. According to Sora's account it took them 14 days of steady travel from Nezu no seki and 16 days from Sakata. Sora lists their stopping places as follows: 6.27, Nakamura, 6.28-9, Murakami, 7.1, Chikuji, 7.2, Niigata, 7.3, Yahiko, 7.4 Izumozaki, 7.5, Hachizaki, 7.6-7, Naoetsu, 7.8-10, Takada, 7.11 Nou, 7.12, Ichiburi.

During this fast march Basho suffered from the heat and rain. Since this was the height of summer, we can imagine how hot and humid it must have been. As far as rain is concerned, we can consult Sora's diary and see rain on the night of the 25th and 26th, showers on the 27th, heavy rain on the 28th, fair weather on the 29th, showers turning to heavy rain on 7.1 with clearing around noon on 7.2, clear on 7.3, clear on 7.4, but rain during the night, rain and showers on 7.5, rain stopping on 7.6, then starting again. More rain on 7.7, but stopping on 7.8, showers on 7.9 and 10, but clear on 7.11-12. From this we can see that it rained almost every day on their trip between Sakata and Ichiburi.

Basho says his old illness recurred, but Sora makes no mention of it between Sakata and Ichiburi. Since Basho's old problems were hemmorhoids and colic, we can suppose that these were exacerbated by the heat, yet not serious enough to keep him from travelling. Since they covered an average of about eight miles a day, Basho must not have been too ill.

THE POEM: Fumizuki ya... The season word is Fumizuki and it indicates autumn. In the phrase muika mo the mo draws our attention to the following day, 7.7, when the Tanabata Festival is celebrated. Tomorrow is the festival and tonight, too, is no ordinary night. What makes this night of the sixth special is that they prepare to write poems and make other preparations for the festival. There are a great many poems celebrating the Tanabata Festival, but this poem is unique in recognizing that the night before Tanabata is also special. At another level, of course, what he is saying here is that each night is special whether it is a holiday night or not. At the same time, the once a year meeting of the stars reminds the lonely traveller once again of those he left behind and he begins looking forward to seeing them again as his journey heads towards its conclusion. From now on he will increasingly be looking forward to the conclusion of his trip. According to Sora's diary this poem was written on the evening of 7.6 when they were staying at the home of Furukawa Ichizaemon in the town of Naoetsu. It served as the opening verse of a twenty poem sequence Basho and a group of friends composed that evening. Sora's diary tells us that it rained on the evenings of both 7.6 and 7.7, so instead of gazing at the sky, Basho spent the evenings writing poetry.

THE POEM: Ara umi ya... The season word is Amanokawa indicating autumn. According to an ancient Chinese legend, on 7.7 the herd boy star (Altair) crosses over the Milky Way to meet the weaving maid star (Vega).

The waves are rough on the northern sea and its color is dark and it feels cold. As Basho looks out he sees a cold, turbulent sea. Out in this rough sea, black and silent, lies Sado, and beyond it the Milky Way like a waterfall. The poem makes a magnificient conjunction of heaven and sea and island. But more than grandiosity, this poem expresses the sad and lonely melancholy of travel. Travelling through Echigo on the northern highway, Basho put up for the night at Izumozaki. Across the rough waves he can see the island clearly enough to feel he could reach out and touch it. This brooding island lying on the horizon of the rough sea is showered by the silvery light of the Milky Way. The island is known for its production of gold and is celebrated everywhere, but it was also a place of exile for serious offenders against the Imperial court, so its name strikes fear into the heart. The melancholy list of offenders who were exiled to Sado over the years were Juntokuin, Nichiren, Hino Suketomo, and Zeami Motokiyo. The lonliness of the isolation implied by the island, as well as by the exiled criminals combines with the lonliness of the travellers who are also separated from home and family. The stars too are cold and lonely, meeting only once a year. Absorbed in these thoughts Basho sees the turbulent sea, absolutely black in the night while the Milky Way is impossibly high overhead. Basho has chosen remarkable images of lonely desolation. Especially the Araumi ya poem sums up the whole mood of Oku no Hosomichi even if the surrounding text seems rather perfunctory, almost as though Basho is in a hurry to get home now that he has seen Kisagata.

Since the scene in this poem is at night, Basho could not have been able to see the island and the rough sea was only vaguely visible. One critic points out that from Izumozaki the Milky Way does not fall beyond Sado, so the image Basho creates is not a real, objective description, Ultimately this union of Sado Island, the rough sea, and the River of Heaven are all products of Basho's poetic imagination. In this sense the image of the MiIlky Way extending down on the island represents Basho's thoughts extending to the condition of the exiles there.

Much has been made of the verb yokotau in this poem. Gramatically it would be proper to use the intransitive (Jidoshi) verb to say that the Milky Way lies over Sado. Some say Basho used the transitive (Tadoshi) verb to make the statement stronger; the Milky Way lays itself over Sado. Aso says Basho often mixes up self and other, or more likely, simply fails to distinguish between them and here uses the transitive form to maintain the tension in the tone of the verse. Here the intransitive verb would simply sound sluggish.

Several sources say that Basho composed this poem at Izumozaki, but he was there on the night of 7.4 which means that this poem was composed before the Fumizuki ya poem. Sora, however, dates this poem as 7.7. Since it was raining that night, it seems likely the poem may have been written earlier. At Izumozaki Basho was closer to Sado and had a better view of it, so he may well have written the poem then.

When we follow Sora's account of the trip from Sakata to Ichiburi we see that they left Sakata on 6.25 (8.10). They were accompanied as far as the Funahashi Bridge leading to Sode no ura by Fugyoku and his son, Konoeya Saburobei, Kagaya Fujiemon, Miyabe Yasaburo, and others. They made their way past Hamanaka and arrived at Oyama around two o'clock. There, using a letter of recommendation from Yasaburo, they found lodging with Maruya Gizaemon. It rained that night. The following day, 6.26, they left Oyama and followed the coast passing a number of difficult places and sometime after two o'clock arrived at Atsumi where they stayed with Suzuki Tokorozaemon on the strength of their letter of introduction from Yasaburo. It had been clear in the morning but there were occasional showers throughout the afternoon turning to heavy rain in the evening which did not let up all night. On the 27th Basho rode on horseback and went directly to the Nezumi no seki barrier. Sora veered off and made a slight detour through Yumoto. After crossing the barrier they passed through Fuya and Katsugi and spent the night at Nakamura. On the 28th they crossed the Budo Toge pass and went through Shiono stopping at Murakami which at that time was a castle town with a stipend of 150,000 koku. They were shown through the castle by a friend there. On the 29th they received funds from Sakakibara Tatewaki, the chief retainer of the local daimyo. They visited the Koeiji temple and a place called Senami and returned to Murakami to spend the night. On 7.1 they visited the family temple containing the graves of the Sakakibara family and left Murakami around ten o'clock. That day they went as far as Tsuijimura where they stayed with a man named Jiichiro.

On 7.2 they left Tsuji around eight o'clock and arrived in Niigata at four o'clock. They had much difficulty finding a suitable place to stay here until finally the mother of a carpenter named Genshichi took pity on them and helped them find a place for the night. On 7.3 the weather was clear and they planned to rent a horse as they set out from Niigata, but the rental fee was high and Genshichi talked them out of it, so they had to use their weary legs all the way to Yahiko where they put up for the night. They stopped to worship at the Yahiko shrine. On 7.4 they paid their respects to a statue dedicated to Kochi Hoin, a Shingon priest located at the Rengeji temple. He had died in Joji 2. They continued on their way and put up for the night at Izumozaki. They had had fair weather throughout the day, but there was a downpour during the night. On 7.5 they set out from Izumozaki about eight o'clock and called on a man at Kashiwazaki with their letter of introduction from Miyabe Yasaburo, but Kashiwazaki was busy , so they went on to Hachizaki and stayed at the home of Tawaraya Rokurobei. On 7.6 they left Hachizaki around noon, walked to Kuroi where they visited the Kikishinji Temple and stayed at the home of Furukawa Ichiemon. That night they composed poetry. They stayed over there on 7.7 due to heavy rain. That night they were invited to visit the home of Sato Gensen and again wrote poetry. On 7.8 they were invited to the home of Ishizuka Zenemon and in the afternoon they went to Takada where they visited Hosokawa Shunan and spent the night with Ikeda Rokuzaemon. That night they composed poetry. Shunan was a physician and poet. It was for him that Basho wrote the poem: Yakuran ni/ izure no hana wo/ kusamakura. It rained on 7.9-10 and they stayed on at Takada. On 7.11 they left and returned to Naoetsu where they visited temples and shrines before going on to Nou where they stayed with Tamaya Gorobei. On 7.12 they left Nou and headed for Itoigawa, but Basho slipped and fell while crossing the Hayakawa River and got soaked, so they paused to rest for a time on the riverbank while his clothes dried. They arrived at Ichiburi around five o'clock. Such were the details of Basho's trip along the Echigo Road. It had taken 14 days and a number of unpleasant things had happened to them, but Basho passes over these events lightly. He says only that he was ill and could not write, but the illness was not serious enough to prevent him from travelling hard. It hardly seems the only reason he did not write much. Clearly the heat and the illness took a toll on him.

One contemporary document says that in proofreading the diary, numerous passages were crossed out using either red or black ink. Since we do not have a manuscript copy of this work in Basho's own hand, we cannot know if this is true or not, and even if material was crossed out, we do not know why he made deletions. There are a number of explanations for why Basho wrote such a brief account of this part of the journey. This portion of the journey left an unpleasant impression on Basho and this, of course, was reflected in his writing, so when he edited the work he recognized this negative impression and deleted some of the passages. Sora gives us this account of their experience: "7.5, rain fell until morning, then stopped. As soon as we set our from Izumozaki, the rain commenced again. At Kashiwazaki we went to the home of Amaya Yasobei with our letter of introduction from Yasaburo. Although we presented ourselves and made inquiries, ourr presence was not convenient and we departed. As we continued on our way they sent two servants after us asking us to come back, but we did not. Showers fell from time to time throughout the afternoon and at last we reached Hachizaki where we stayed with Tawaraya Rokurobei."

Amaya Yasobei who failed to receive them was the scion of one of the pioneering families of Kashiwazaki and it was to him that Basho brought his letter of introduction from Miyabe Yasaburo (Teiji). Apparently Amaya did not want to put up with a couple of hungry, itinerant priests, in any case, he did not receive them. Clearly Basho was unhappy about this rejection and departed. Amaya then regretted what had happened and sent two servants to bring the travellers back, but Basho would have none of it and continued on through the rain to Hachizaki where he found lodging with Tawaraya Rokurobei. Hachizaki was merely a fishing village and their accomodations there were surely rustic in the extreme. In the end they had walked some 12 miles that day and were surely exhausted and out of sorts.

A similar thing happened the following day, 7.6. Sora writes, "7.6, Rain. Left Hachizaki at noon and from Kuroi we followed right along the beach past Imamachi. We stopped at Kikishinji Temple and presented our letter of introduction from Yasaburo, but they were in mourning there, so we did not stop, but set out again. Ishii Zenjiro heard of this and sent someone after us, but we did not intend to go back. The servant insisted two or three times, and because of the frequent showers, we, at last, returned. We eventually found lodging with Furukawa Ichizaemon. That night guests came and we composed poetry."

Imamachi is known today as Naoetsu City. Basho stopped there at the Kikishinji Temple and presented his letter of introduction from Yasaburo, but because the temple was in mourning, Basho was turned away. Ishii Zenjiro who lived near the temple gate heard of this and sent a servant after the travellers. Basho was not inclined to turn back, but the servant implored them repeatedly and because it was raining, they agreed to return to Zenjiro's place. Zenjiro arranged for them to stay at the home of Furukawa Ichizaemon.

Although Basho had a letter of introduction, he must have looked pretty bedraggled after months on the road which may explain why he kept being turned away when he asked for lodging. It may also be that although many of these people enjoyed haikai, they belonged to the Teimon or Danrin schools and were not familiar with Basho's name as a poet. Whatever the reason, Basho's trip along the Echigo Road was not a pleasant one. It is only natural that Basho would abbreviate his account of this part of the trip.

But this is not the only possible reason. Other possibilities are, 1) There are not many places along this road that have been celebrated in poetry. 2) This is not a very elegantly beautiful part of the country. 3) Basho was afraid of making his account too verbose. This last reason is probably correct. By this time Basho had completed all the primary objectives of his trip. Along here, too, the stage has changed and so too does the mood and tempo of the diary. Also the season. This makes sense if we see the account structured like a linked verse. In the next passage he deals with the issue of love and in preparation for the intensity of that encounter at the inn at Ichiburi he would want to have a bland passage here.